KLM to Retire Boeing 747 Fleet

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced that it will be retiring its Boeing 747 fleet. The Amsterdam-based airline, which is the largest operator of the 747-400, the best-selling model of the 747, has not yet announced any official dates however.

The Boeing 747 first entered service in 1970, with launch customer Pan Am. It changed the face of flying forever, offering amenities (depending on the airline) from a first-class lounge to a piano bar on the upper deck, and its greater capacity contributed to making flying more affordable.

In 2014, Delta Air Lines announced plans to begin phasing out the 747 and retired four that year. In September 2015, the carrier operated the final commercial flight of the first ever Boeing 747-400 aircraft. That 747, carrying tail number N661US, had been delivered to Northwest Airlines in 1989 and was acquired by Delta when the airline merged with Northwest.

In January of this year, Air France, a sister airline of KLM, operated its last 747 flights.

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Those who travel by air during the winter have undoubtedly seen this unusual dance before: trucks circling the aircraft spraying a strange orange-colored fluid, while passengers peer through the plane’s windows.
As your aircraft pushes back from the gate, you probably hear the captain announce, “Well folks, we’re just making a quick stop for deicing, and then we’ll be off.”
Deicing prevents a build-up of snow and ice on the plane’s wings …